Serbs decry plans to move Tesla's ashes to church

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Belgrade, Serbia • Hundreds of Serbs rallied Saturday against plans by the Serbian Orthodox Church and nationalist leaders to move the ashes of scientist and engineer Nikola Tesla from his museum in Belgrade to the country's biggest church.

Hefting banners that read "Leave Tesla alone!" the protesters blocked traffic in front of the museum, where the urn bearing Tesla's remains has been on display for six decades. The protesters, among them many scientists, want his ashes to stay put.

"Tesla is not a saint to be buried in a church. He was a scientist," said pensioner Boro Sikimic.

"Tesla does not belong only to us, he belongs to the entire world," said Ana Jovanovic, an art historian.

Tesla, an ethnic Serb born in Croatia, was a pioneer in electricity, wireless communication, radio and X-ray technology in rivalry with Thomas Edison. Tesla died in New York in 1943.

Serbia and Croatia have sought to claim Tesla as their own, although the scientist spent most of his life in the United States. In line with Tesla's wishes, his personal belongings, documents and urn were transferred from New York to Belgrade in 1951 for housing in a new museum honoring his life's work.

Church and nationalist authorities want Tesla's ashes moved to the St. Sava Temple in Belgrade and interred, not kept on display. They have insisted the remains should be properly buried with national honors.

Organizers said during Saturday's protest they would challenge in court any attempt to move the urn.

"We have a message for the politicians: Be careful what you are doing!" physicist Milovan Suvakov told the crowd.

Share This Article

ARTICLE PHOTO GALLERY

USER COMMENTS

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account. See more about comments here.